Deadline: 31 December 2014
Quarter of a century ago, attheturn of 1989 and 1990, Central and Eastern Europe - then known as the ‘Soviet bloc’ - experienced an unprecedented socio-economic and political transformation. The hitherto existing system, known as ‘Actually Existing Socialism’, crumbled, and countries of the region started a transition towards a capitalist market economy and a political democracy.
The aim of the conference is to focus on the socio-legal aspects of the transformation. Whilst some areas, such as lustration and transitional justice, have been already thoroughly researched, others such as the impact of transformation upon private law, procedural law or general administrative law still remain to be analysed in more detail. In particular, an aspect which is generally neglected in contemporary scholarship are so-called ‘legal survivals’ of the socialist period, that is those legal institutions which have not been removed after transformation but still remain in place. Furthermore, some scholars argue that there is a strong continuity in legal culture, such as attitudes of judges and scholars to legal interpretation or generally held views on the place of law in society. Our aim is to invite a broad outlook upon the socio-legal aspects of transformation, including the role of law in the transformation of social conciousness, the construction of collective identities and the framing of social dialogue.
The conference will take place at the Masaryk University (Brno, Czech Republic), on 16-17.4.2015.
Click here for the full text of this call.